BY 2020, the shortage [in the supply of cacao] will be around one million metric tons (MT) but [with the Ebola outbreak], by 2017, the shortage in supply will already be felt. This was the warning issued by Cacao Industry Development Association of Mindanao Inc. (Cidami) executive director Val Turtur during the Mindanao Cacao Summit and Inter-Agency Convergence at the Waterfront Insular Hotel on December 10. Aside from the increasing market demand for cacao, another threat being faced by the industry is the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa, the worlds top cacao producer. Turtur said it is estimated that around 200,000 MT of cacao supply will be lost from the West African countries affected by Ebola. Ivory Coast and Ghana, supplying 33 percent and 18 percent of the total world supply of cacao, respectively, are in danger of an outbreak of the virus as they are neighbors with countries that already have been hit by the virus. Nigeria, which supplies eight percent of the world supply, is already affected by Ebola. Some of the chocolate makers in the world will not procure supply from these countries anymore. Certainly there will be a shortage of supply, Turtur said. However, cacao industry players in Mindanao are told to not see this as a problem but an opportunity that they can grab. He said now cacao industry players in Mindanao should not only target the 2020 challenge of producing 100,000 MT but also being able to supply the world market. We know the demand for cacao is there and is slowly increasing but the sad part is the supply is gradually diminishing. By 2020 there will be a very big gap of supply and demand for cacao, said Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Luwalhati R. Antonino, who is also a staunch supporter of the cacao industry in Mindanao. She said Mindanaoans should take advantage of this since the opportunities are here in Mindanao brought by a good climate and fertile soil. Now is a chance for us to make our cacao industry very relevant and establish our own niche in the market, Antonino said, adding the cacao could become the next earner for the country just like the banana wherein it used to be planted in the back yards of Mindanaoans but now a top export commodity. Antonino said in support to the expansion of the cacao industry in Mindanao, concerned government agencies, like the Department of Agriculture and the Philippine Coconut Agencies, have programs for the industry, which interested cacao farmers can take advantage of. Several agencies have their own cacao programs and it is time to come together to be able to maximize what money the government has, she said. Antonino said based on the inter-agency assessment, there is a potential 80,000 hectares (has.) that can be planted by the convergence of the programs of the different agencies. However, she said the industry can plant more than 80,000 has. in partnership with the private sector. Antonino said they are developing a scheme for the cacao industry that is seen to double its production. She said in the scheme they are developing, if the farmer is given 5 has. worth of cacao seedlings then his counterpart should be another 5 has. of cacao plantations. The farmer will be the one to take care of the cacao. That is one program that I see can double up the production of cacao, she said. Antonino said through the scheme, it is seen to generate more jobs and help increase the gross regional domestic product of Mindanao. In Davao Region, the Department of Agriculture (DA) 11 has set aside some P52.025 million to support the Cacao Expansion Program in the region next year. Some P28 million will go to production support services, P16.25 million for machineries, equipments, facilities, and support services, P5.05 million for extension support, education, and training services, P1.5 million for market development services, and P1.225 million for irrigation network services. The Philippine Coconut Authority, through their Kaanib Enterprise Development Project, is targeting to issue 1.25 million cacao seedlings to some 2,606 coconut farmers in Davao Region. Antonino also said there is 1.9 million has. of coconut plantations that can be intercropped with cacao. However, there are still some challenges that cacao industry in Mindanao faces like farm practices, dispersal system of quality planting materials, the need for post harvest facilities, and market linkages. Turtur said it is important for government agencies and private sector to work together in overcoming the challenges to be able to attain the goals of the industry. He also said with the efforts to increase and double the production of cacao in light of the looming cacao shortage, it is important that the cacao industry in Mindanao should be sustainable. We are looking for sustainable cacao industry in Mindanao, that is we have to achieve the economics of cacao production with social value and under the context of ecological balance, Turtur said. Source: sunstar.ph/davao/business/2014/12/14/cacao-shortage-world-market-381956
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 02:01:12 +0000
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